EZT council briefs: Councillors debate Strong Mayor Powers

By Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

East Zorra-Tavistock (EZT) Mayor Phil Schaefer’s newly acquired Strong Mayor Powers will remain on the township’s agenda for the foreseeable future.

“It was in consultation with Mayor Schaefer and we agreed to put the strong mayor item under the unfinished business so it would always be a forum. Even though, as clerk (Meaghan) Vader indicated, his decisions and directions are his to make outside the regular council meeting forum,” CAO Karen DePrest told councillors at their May 21 council meeting. “This … is an opportunity for you as representatives of the community to ask questions if things happen that you weren’t aware of.”

Coun. Scott Zehr said the mayor could implement policies on his own and asked if future councils would need to adhere to those rules.

“To the best of our knowledge, at this point, when there is a new election in 2026, and if there is a change at the head of council, our understanding … is that it would reset,” said Vader. “If Mayor Schaefer is no longer the mayor, the new head of council would have to make the decisions at that time.”

Shaefer and 168 other mayors’ extended powers were announced several weeks ago and Coun. Jeremy Smith asked the mayor for clarification on what his plans were going forward.

“I think this is our third meeting since it came to light, and with all due respect to his worship, I think all of us are wondering … whether you’ve given consideration to delegate powers that are available to you.”

Schaefer said he has been very transparent and will continue to do so.

“I made it pretty clear when this came out that I had no intention of wanting to do the budget, and as far as the staffing goes, I really had no intention of wanting to insert myself between the CAO and the department heads. I haven’t formally delegated (the powers) at this point, but that’s my intention.”

There appears to be some confusion surrounding what, if any, next steps are involved in the process. Deputy mayor Brad Smith asked Schaefer if he needed to inform the province of his intentions.

“Will you be required to make a statement that you are not going to do this? Are you required to say, ‘No, we’re going to continue the status quo?’ Do you have to declare that at some point?”

Schaefer deferred to Vader, who said as EZT makes its way through the legislation, the mayor has certain powers at his disposal.

“There are mayoral decisions and directives. Any time he wants to make a formal direction to staff, it would be considered mayoral direction, and that would be anything in relation to the four provincial priorities.”

She said mayoral decisions involve Schaefer’s power to veto a decision of council or delegate authority to the CAO for the township’s organizational structure or staffing.

“It’s not something under the legislation that would come to council but is something done in writing and (most municipalities) have created a section on their websites for Strong Mayor Powers, and that’s where those decisions live,” she added.

Schaefer said he is being as transparent as he can be by opening up the floor to questions.

“That’s part of the reasoning we have it on as unfinished business so it’s on our agenda each meeting and we can all talk through this. Bear in mind, things that are delegated can be undelegated immediately and at any time. That’s an important thing to keep in mind.”

Brad Smith explained he is comfortable with how Schaefer is handling his powers but wants to ensure ratepayers are kept in the loop.

“I think we'd better be cognisant of this if someone challenges our current mayor or there comes an issue that becomes a serious thing around this horseshoe that could come out into the public. I hope the public is following this a little bit so they can be sure of what we are doing the next time we have an election and if we get down this road, that somebody’s trying to take it over. It’s something people should be aware of.”

The next municipal election is scheduled for the fall of 2026.

Township ends 2024 with surplus

The year-end audit at EZT is complete and an operating surplus of just over $132,000 has been realized.

“Those funds will be transferred to the tax-rate stabilization reserve to replenish it after our recent building of (the township offices). This is also the first time for this council and this township, assuming council endorses it, we will post the treasurer's statement of reserve funds,” said DePrest.

She explained the move comes out of the township’s development charges bylaw, which would provide a public record of how much money was collected and what those funds were spent on.

“We spent $477,000 of development charges on the Hickson land acquisition. We spent money on the salt-sand storage shop, which was fully funded from development charges and then we have our two debt repayments.”

Just under $270,000 was spent on the storage facility in Hickson. East Zorra-Tavistock currently has close to $2 million in reserves with just over half of it in the public works department. The remainder is split between the fire, recreation and administration departments.